By Angela Cabotaje 
On March 11, a devastating earthquake and tsunami claimed thousands of lives, and many people across the globe joined forces to offer support and to aid disaster relief efforts. One such group is comprised of the talented musicians, composers and artists from the video-game industry. Composer Akira Yamaoka was inspired to express the tremendous outpouring he felt from gamers, fans and friends around the world in the most universal of languages: music. The result is Play For Japan: The Album, a collection of original songs created by some of the video-game industry’s most celebrated musicans and composers, with original album artwork by artist Yoshitaka Amano of Final Fantasy fame. “With these artists, my goal is to channel that energy into this album and to share all the warmth and compassion I’ve received with video game and music fans around the world,” Yamaoka explains. The tracks featured on the album are "Ex Animo" by Akira Yamaoka, "We Are One" by Arthur Inasi, "Maverick Regeneration" by Bear McCreary, "Rise Up" by Chance Thomas, "HVC-1384" by Hip Tanaka.β, "Remember" by Ion Zur featuring The Lyris Quartet, "Necromancer" by Jason Graves, "Super Mario Medley on Two Pianos" by Koji Kondo, "Pine Wind Sound" by Laura Karpman with Lisbeth Scott, "Jump" by Laura Shigihara, "Play for You" by Mitsuto Suzuki, "Reminiscence" by Nobuko Toda, "Every New Morning" by Nobuo Uematsu, "White Cloud" by Penka Kouneva, "The Temple Stone" by Sean Murray, "Greater Lights" by Tommy Tallarico, "Moshi Moshi" by Woody Jackson, and "Dimension Break" by Yasunori Mitsuda. Play For Japan: The Album is available to purchase on iTunes. All of the proceeds will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross. For more information, visit playforjapan.org/album.

Top image: Original album artwork by Yoshitaka Amano